Another poll has Brown ahead by 6 points.

I was pretty eager to back Knute but then I watched him at work in an appearance and thought about what he said, which was basically that he has no interest in being SOS or in the actual functions of the job, he simply wants the platform so he can run for Gov from the spot as an elected pundit entitled to opine on anything that crosses his mind.

Just as with green party idiots and all the others who think that their poop is so sweet smelling that entry level jobs are beneath them (looking at you, Dudley), a term or two in the state house or the city council, or as a county commissioner would have given Knute a lot more credible case.

he simply wants the platform so he can run for Gov from the spot as an elected pundit

Like Brown, Avakian, Wheeler, Kroger, Keisling, Bradbury...

The O weighs in again here.

Well, he is a Republican, and we all know what that means.

This is so discouraging. This is the only race I have had my heart on.

From the (particularly and unusually excellent) Oregonian editorial:

Yet the consummate moderate is "too extreme for Oregon," according to ads bankrolled largely by public employee unions.

I hate them.

"There's also the goatee and the open collar. Don't laugh, it matters."

I think he's a really good-looking guy. I would have put that in his plus column.

Sigh.

I think he's a really good-looking guy. I would have put that in his plus column.

Here's a quiz: The last successful politician with a goatee was...?

She screwed up the scheduling of the labor commissioner election, her bungling let scofflaws in the Portland school district walk away penalty-free from violations of the state elections law, and she's brought in an elections chief who dragged a lot of baggage with him from his last gig.

For the most part these are all pretty wonky points, though. I don't mean disrespect to you, Jack, just making the point that the average person isn't going to be swayed by a commercial talking about the timing of an election for labor commissioner. Brown may have flaws, but none of them really rise to the level of the kind of thing you can base a negative series of ads on.

Last successful politician with a goatee..... Lenin?

The last successful politician with a goatee was...?

Kate Brown?

Are you kidding? The O used the word "bungle" in a headline. You blow that up and put it on the screen. And you dig up all the dirt on the elections chief she hired from California.

They've got nothing on Buehler, and yet they run attack after attack. In Brown's case, there's stuff there. Plenty to knit a sweater from.

"Here's a quiz: The last successful politician with a goatee was...?"

Unfortunately it doesn't look like the next successful politician is going to have a goatee, either, unless Allan L. is right about Kate Brown.

I still think Buehler is a strikingly good-looking man. In the "takes-one-to-know-one" department I thought you would have, too.

Well, he is a Republican, and we all know what that means.

Well, Kate is a Democrat, and we all know what that means as well. Especially in our area. There are different types of Republicans and same as Democrats, but seems only one type of the D's rules here.

There are different types of Republicans

Not really, at least not the ones seeking or holding office. To support the universal lying, greed and corruption that characterizes them all, you'd have to have an IQ somewhere below room temperature.

Sometimes I wonder if Portland isn't a deliberate fly-trap for the arrogant leftists of the nation.

"Sometimes I wonder if Portland isn't a deliberate fly-trap for the arrogant leftists of the nation."

Portland is quite proud of their electorate. They've earned their reputation, (Little Beirut) and they always get who they elect. Just look at Scam Adams and the zoo they'll elect next week.

Portland, they deserve their Weirdness. And love it that way!

There are extensive discussions of Kate Brown's record at http://progparty.org/category/tags/wolfe and http://seth4sos.org. Knute Buehler just won't go negative.

But also look at this way...
Portland thinks so high-and-mighty of itself, but on the global or even national scale of things, it really is insignificant and contributes very little to the world except it's sense of self-importance...
It's in an out-of-the-way place that's far enough away from the real centers of commerce, creativity, science, engineering, research, etc. to pose little threat, consequently its residents can do little harm except to themselves.

Knute Buehler just won't go negative.

Then he'll have plenty of company because he won't be the first person running for office that lost because of their dedication to remaining chivarous on the battlefield.
Besides, I don't consider it to negative to call attention an incumbent's poor or suspect job performance. It's negative when you take cheap shots at their personal life or minor incidents of poor judgement in their youth.

Knute has spent his political life trying to reform elections. The commenter that said he has no interest in the actual job is way off base. Having been in forum after forum with him, he is focusing on the actual job. As far as calling me an idiot for not seeking a lower office first, my goal isn't necessarily to win in this election. My pay would cut in half if I were elected. I will likely be recruited to a lower office next election cycle where I do have a chance of winning, but until we get campaign finance reform, I am not sure where I will get enough corporate and union money to spend the half million dollars it takes to compete for tens of thousands of votes in these smaller districts. Do you realize that at that cost they could hire somebody to come to your door and chat with you for an hour or two instead of paying for mailers and TV ads? Our election costs are second only to New Jersey! Narrow it down to swing voters and somebody could chat with you all day for their candidate while being paid.

And supposedly I am the idiot for skipping that process.

:)

Really, going after Kate Brown and nabbing a few percent from her left to remove her from office is cheap and effective. That, I would say, is quite sane. She is the reason we do not have any campaign finance reform in this state, lest we forget.

Buehler is the first Republican I have voted for in a long, long, long time. In fact, I can't remember the last time I voted for a Republican, and it's entirely possible that I never have voted for a Republican. It's funny, because I really don't have more that a vague image in my mind as to what he looks like. He's not Kate Brown, and that was good enough to get my vote.

"Sometimes I wonder if Portland isn't a deliberate fly-trap for the arrogant leftists of the nation"

Aptly named The Island of Misfit Toys for a reason. All of the unhappy, unfulfilled lost and wandering hipster and wanna be types have flooded in.

"Not really, at least not the ones seeking or holding office. To support the universal lying, greed and corruption that characterizes them all [Republicans], you'd have to have an IQ somewhere below room temperature."

Pathetic. If Brown wins it will be because they're are too many people this rigid and blind. "Lying, greed and corruption" are common in politics and power across the globe, but not quite "universal." And Republicans have no lion's share in this country, not a scintilla more than Democrats do. That is not where the parties divide. Life must be very simple in your world with only two colors to paint with.

I think this ad calls her out for the terrible job she has done:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1_yFzyq6aI&feature=player_embedded

"How can anyone be a Republican? That simply is not tolerated in Oregon these day."

Puhleese!

You obviously have not been over here in the oligarchy of East Cascadia (anything east of the Cascades). It's one party rule over here: Republican, and nothing but Republican, from the Pacific Crest to the Idaho border.

Killing some time over here in the enlightened village of Multnomah, while kids take a class...just carefully installed my Romney-Ryan sticker on the back of the Prius (only one in Oregon with this sticker, how I love novelty, novelty beats truth on the fun scale, every time). As I lovingly pressed all the air out from under it, flattening it with an industrious palm, a black pickup truck as long as three small sedans, with an extended cab, slowly filed past in the parking lot. The driver looked like Cruella Deville watching the 101 coal-dust disguised Dalmatian puppies crossing the intersection in front of her vehicle.

Should be an interesting week. Hope the car survives.

Sally:
A president ignored specific warnings, and so the worst terrorist attack on US soil in history happened on his watch, with enormous, tragic and unnecessary loss of life.
That same president led us into two unnecessary wars (using lies), financed on credit, and instituted tax rate cuts (using lies) resulting in budget deficits that constrain our government still today.
That president turned Medicare into a gigantic giveaway to drug companies, brought the US economy to the brink of disaster through deregulation and lack of oversight, and dismantled an effective disaster relief organization at FEMA, leaving the victims of Hurricane Katrina to suffer.
That president's Democratic successor was faced with co-ordinated intransigence by the Republican opposition in everything he tried to do, even though his policies were moderate to conservative and had their roots in Republican platforms. Why? As the Republican senate leader put it, their number one priority was to deny Obama a second term. There are 24 million people today who want or need to work and are unable to find jobs in an economy that is operating far below capacity, a price they pay to advance the Republicans' party agenda.
The current Republican candidates for President and Vice President are running on a web of lies and empty promises. Their contempt for ordinary people is palpable.
No one with a grain of sense would vote for these people or anyone who allies or identifies with them. No one.

Allan: so this is about Bushie. Figures. So you're going to vote for a rotten Democrat in Oregon (a state that is coming in pretty low at most measures of economic and fiscal well-being nationwide) rather than a really smart Republican.

Like I said. Pathetic.

Alan L., you have very serious credibility issues. I agree that Mitt and his sidekick are a total joke. Saying that a guy like Buehler needs to be lumped in with them because he's an "R" pretty much takes away from everything you say. But then again it's very obvious that you are an incredibly angry person.

Buehler needs to be lumped in with them

Buehler is doing his own lumping, isn't he?

Sally, you're just being willfully obtuse. I suppose you don't really have an alternative. Yes, Buehler's association with Republicans is what disqualifies him. It isn't just George Bush. Yes, he wrecked stuff. Then with Obama in office all the Republicans obstructed efforts to fix stuff, and now the Republican candidates lie about anything and everything, past, present and future, to try to appeal to you. They complain that Obama hasn't done what they would have done, but when he tried, they blocked it. Their audacity and their contempt for voters like you are breathtaking. No sentient being should give them a moment's consideration.

Tenskwatawa has been surpassed, with less words and more jokes than even Bill. Impressive!

Take a look at Hugh's list.

http://obamascandalslist.blogspot.com/2009/10/table-of-contents.html

On the above link, on left column click on the Bush list.

I think this will keep the conversation going for awhile, both the D and R have plenty to account for on these lists.

Allen L.
Spot on!
Distribute that!

Allan, I am enjoying the image of you issuing these absolutist statements and tripping off party-line talking points while sitting at your desk under a framed picture of David Wu.

I think the Republican "brand" has been tarnished. With the Tea Bagger crazies, the Birthers, Glen "I am so nuts even my dog hides" Beck and the rest of the Insane Clown Posse of Politics that moderate, even handed Republicans get shafted. First they have to make it out of the primary, no easy feat, and then convince voters you are not "one of them". That and Sec of State is not a position people get excited about. To many it is a check and forget part of the ballot. Sad but true. At least from the people I talk to.

Allan, I am enjoying . . .

Fantastic. Literally.